I've been running GameChangers since they came out, starting in my EB48.3.

I use the 8x1.3mm Low Pack version, custom drilled. I tried the High Pack versions first, but they packed up too quickly on the Tekno, with our shock mounting geometry (fast shaft speed).

Drill the 4 open holes to 1.6mm
Drill the 2 rebound holes to 1.8mm
Leave the 4 holes under the Compression Flex Valve (CFV) at 1.3mm

I've done extensive testing with this shock package, including testing with the new and old springs, along with bladder or emulsion builds.

I achieved the best performance using the legacy pink front and red rear springs with a bladder build and vented caps. Oils are 425 Front, 475 Rear (PT oils).

The custom drilled hole sizes were not randomly chosen. They were based on our popular 4x1.8 and 4x1.9mm Tekno pistons. To mimic the feel of the stock pistons, under slow shaft speed suspension movement (going though chatter bumps, chassis dive when coming into a turn, etc.), I drilled the 4x1.3mm open holes to 1.6mm. These bigger holes, along with the 4x1.3mm holes under the CFV provided a very similar feel to the stock pistons.

At high shaft speeds however (flat landing a jump), the 4x1.3mm holes get blocked by the CFV, effectively leaving us with a 4x1.6mm piston. This is enough to pack up better (more) than the stock pistons. This was a substantial improvement when going through high speed rhythm sections, whoops and flat landing jumps. You'll also notice the car jump farther as it reduces chassis scrub on the face of a steep jump. Jumps (doubles, etc.) where other cars can't make are now quite easy to make as a result of this. Allows me also to pass by jumping OVER other cars in certain circumstances. At a particular track, there is a small jump with no landing, that most slow down for so that it doesn't kick them high and far, as their landings right before the next turn become erratic and out of control. I can be behind them, jump over them, stick the landing and make the turn.

My car is also a lot quieter going around the track. While not that big of a deal, I no longer hear my chassis slapping the ground. Whether just a side benefit (of no value) OR that I am not scrubbing as much speed as well.

There were still times when very small chatter type bumps, especially in rough corners or turns, that there was room for improvement. Seemed that the tires were staying too "on top" of the bumps and not providing as much traction in those areas. This is when I drilled the 2x1.3mm rebound holes each to 1.8mm. Problem solved.

When compared to 1:1 off-road racing shocks, single dimension 1:8th scale pistons lack the ability to adapt to multiple conditions. This is one reason why we see "rough" and "smooth" track setups. What if there are "rough" and "smooth" sections of a track on the SAME track?

1:1 shocks have multiple ports, valving and external reservoirs. The GC piston is the closest I've seen to mimicking 1:1 shock technology in our scaled down models.

To answer your last question, not overkill. Just depends if you're not willing to settle for the compromise between "rough" and "smooth" shock packages.

What are legacy Springs? Older ones? Or the Low Frequency

With your shock oil weights, are you running outer hole on the front and inner hole on the rear of your lower shock mounts?

Correct.

Legacy are the original springs. Not the new Low Frequency springs.

I would love to buy and use ptrc, but it seems they don't have eu resellers, shipping cost from US shops (fierce for ex.) doubles oil price. That's why I`m asking about comparison chart for diff oil.

anyway, thanks for the answer

vwduud - Huge thank you for that comprehensive explanation!

What Radio do you guys use?
 

I used a Futaba 4pls and a Flysky fs-gt3c radio. The Futaba had way more options then the Flysky, or I would ever use. Both radios made the car go left, right, forward, stop, and back. Since people are using cheaper SMC electronics inside the car with very good results. Will the same thing apply to the transmitter? Can a $45 Flysky fs-gt3c get the job done? Or do I need to spend $250 on a radio? I'm not a very good driver, and don't have any delusions of becoming one. Just looking to get back into racing on a budget with equipment that won't frustrate me. What radios do you recommend?

After seeing the latency numbers on a Flysky remote compared to a name brand like Futaba or Sanwa, I would say yes, these more expensive transmitters are well worth the money if you're serious about the hobby. Less headaches, better support, and better performance. You get what you pay for.

And SMC is a different animal. They don't sell cheap because they use cheap stuff, they sell cheap because they have ridiculously low overhead and they save money by doing pre orders instead of individual orders on some items.

SMC has always had great quality in my eyes.

That said, the Sanwa MX-v or the Futaba 3pv are both good entry level transmitters that will blow the doors off any of the Flysky remotes as far as performance and reliability goes.

Thanks for the insight. Would you recommend any new or used radios for about $100?

The Sanwa Mx-v and the Futaba 3pv ;) two great entry radios with loads of features for the price.

The 4pls I had worked good but had way more options then I would ever need. Looks like the 3pv would be a good choice for me. Is there any website that compares radios?

I would just look at the features side by side on Amain.com and see which one better suits your needs that way :) less headache imo.

This weekend was a bit of an eye-opener for me in terms of the need to adjust my setup. A buddy of mine bought a used EB48.3 last week. While practicing this past Saturday we broke out the stopwatch to see how each did with both buggies. Much to my surprise I was consistently a good 1-1.5 seconds faster (on a 18.5-20s lap) with his 48.3 than I was with my 48.4--and this was with his 48.3 running a crappy Tactic radio system out of an Arrma!

In terms of actual feel, I just couldn't believe how much more planted, stable, and easy to drive the 48.3 felt. Clearly my 48.4 needs some setup work for my local track. To rule out tires we swapped his tires onto my EB48.4 with little to no change. I'm running the stock setup as built in the manual on my 48.4. I was able to get a little bit of setup info from the guy he bought the 48.3 from. The EB48.3 is running 7/5/3 diff oil with 40wt front shock oil and 35wt rear shock oil (500cst front/425cst rear). Checked front and rear camber at the track and they were all -2 degress all around. That's about all I know of the 48.3 setup though.

The track I'm running on is a reasonably hard packed red clay with varying amounts of dust. It's not maintained very well, so dust levels can vary quite a bit, but there's usually a decent amount of it. Here's a fairly representative look at what the track looks like (and a fairly average lap for me in the 48.4):

https://youtu.be/VIi206nin_w

My first area of focus I think should be diff oil. How would 7/5/3 diff oil in a 48.3 translate to a 48.4? I seem to recall reading that the diffs are a bit different between the two. I've read all kinds of stuff on diff oil, but I'm still not really clear if I should be going up for down on diff oil if I want to add stability and drivability. Everyone who's driven my 48.4 has commented on it's twitchiness, and I think that's what I'm trying to dial down a bit.

Any other suggestions on where I might start given the track conditions in the video above? Would Tekno's rough track setup be a decent starting point to work from?

I would start with going down on your diff oils. I didn't really care for the feeling of the stock 10/10/7 even on our med-to-high grip indoor clay track. I'm pretty much always in the area of 7/7/5. I run the smooth setup. Only thing I really find myself adjusting is front/rear toe, front kickup and diffs. Everything else stays pretty constant.